024: World's Tallest Dune

The world's tallest dune is a magnificent sight. Standing tall at 455 meters, it pierces the barren landscape like a surgeons scalpel, but without the precision. Its meandering arms radiate, twist and bend in an attempt to dissuade you from clamoring to the peak. However, the luscious red sand seduces you into thinking it's possible.

After a more than a 900 kilometer journey into Oman's Rub' al Khali (Empty Quarter), I stand at the foot of a behemoth, the king of all giants, the grand daddy of them all; the world's tallest dune.

At this point my trip is complete, I've reached the pile of sand, logged its location, and I can go no further. Yemen is to my east, 12 kilometers away, and Saudi Arabia is to my north, 36 kilometers over dense star dunes. However, standing to my right is Fahad Alabri, and his mission just started.

Handstanding Atop the World's Tallest Dune

In this episode of the Sultanate I team up with Fahad Alabri to locate, record, climb, and handstand the biggest, baddest dune of them all.

Fahad is a local personal trainer who is on a mission, across the world, to use the act of handstand to break through cultural barriers while promoting health, fitness, and wellbeing. On his Instagram page, Fahad is seen upside-down all over Oman and beyond in places like Milan, London, Spain, and Zanzibar.

Regarding this trip, "I really have not much of an experience to balance my hands in a sandy desert ground, but I'm going to figure it out," he says. "It's about the connection with the hands and the ground so I just have to manipulate my hands toward it, and then I am gunna go to the inversion."

Tune in to find out if Fahad can overcome wind and sand to handstand atop the world's tallest dune.

You can download the GPS files and read my track report at the associated episode post on my website. Check it out! Sultanate Ep 024: World's Tallest Dune Links

• Fahad's Instagram @cavemangram
• "Voices of Arabia" by Dr. Eid al Yahya
• D's Top 13 Sand Driving Tips
• Sultanate Ep 004: Rub' al Khali

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Music: "Mister S", "Neogrotesque", and "On Five", all by Tortue Super Sonic